276 VETERINARY SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS, 
ADDENDA. 
L. Spasms— Contractures— Cramps. 
Cramps, their etiology and pathogeny, are still much discussed in medi- 
cine for the human species. It is generally admitted that they may result 
from muscular, nervous or vascular lesions. : 
Although the most of the observations reported in veterinary medicine 
under name of cramps relate to the displacement of the patella (see 
Pseudo-dislocation of the Patella), yet in all species, and especially horses, 
spasmodic muscular contractions and contractures analogous to the cramps 
of man are observed, which may occur and have no relation with the dis- 
turbances that may accompany painful cutaneous affections. Hirsemann 
treated a horse which, after a disease of the lungs, was affected with 
spasmodic contractions of the muscles of the neck and of the anterior 
leg on the same’side as the affected lung; these contractions occurred by 
spells, and were brought on by the slightest touch on the affected regions ; 
at the same time it lowered its head and flexed and carried forward the af- 
fected leg. The trouble lasted three weeks, and was finally relieved by 
subcutaneous injections of veratrin. Dycer has reported an observation 
of cramp of the flexor muscles of the head, which with the neck were 
flexed to such an extent that the nose touched the sternum; the front 
legs were carried forward and flexed; the animal rested on his knees, and 
his body was covered with perspiration. Attempts to raise the head were 
followed by great pain. After several hours the head and neck suddenly 
relaxed, the animal began to eat, and no further trouble was ever ob- 
served.’ 
Moller has seen a horse in which cramps would appear when slight ir- 
ritations were applied to the auricular region. “The introduction of the 
finger into the ear would immediately bring on a violent contracture of the 
corresponding hind leg, which was then carried forward and for a few 
minutes held in an almost horizontal position. The animal was unfit for 
any work, as pressure of the bridle round the base of the ear would bring 
on the contraction. The ears and the peri-auricular region presented no 
visible alteration.” Contractures of the olecranoid muscles have been 
recorded. In a case related by Miller, these muscles were tense, rigid 
and insensible to pressure ; the animal was very lame; when at rest the 
elbow was carried outwards. In large animals, contractures of the posterior 
legs are sometimes observed at various intervals and of various duration. 
* Dr. Nesbit has recorded a case of spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm 
(stumps), which was also accompanied with spasms of the masseter muscles, 
which had appeared after a comparatively short journey. He recovered rapidly 
by rest. (Amer, Vet. Rev., vol. xv., p. 452.) 
